Despite the matter only being a minor detail to his record, he had ample opportunity to correct the mistakes --- even when interviewed in person --- but failed to do so. Yahoo pulled the biography from its website within hours of Loeb's allegations, but it didn't escape SEC filings, in which the biography was ported to the filing without a moment's thought.

Yahoo effectively misled the U.S. government in an official report.

The company will now start the process of finding yet another chief executive to fill the void left behind by Thompson.